Suspense is essential for any story; it’s not just for thrillers and crime novels.
Without any form of suspense in your novel, you’ll struggle to keep readers engaged.
What is Suspense in Writing?
Suspense is a form of tension, which leaves a reader aware that something dangerous or important is about to happen, and makes them desperate to read on to find out how things play out.
A story’s suspense can be felt, for example, in the form of spine-tingling terror, or a heart-wrenching desire to see two star-destined lovers end up together, or a ‘how-will-they-ever-survive?’ cliff-hanger.
Effective suspense is always felt by the reader of a story; the feeling may or may not be shared by the characters within the story.
If you’re writing commercial or genre fiction, suspense will be one of the most important aspects of your story to get right. You’ll need to write a page-turner, and suspense is one of the most useful elements at your fingertips to get readers staying up late into the night to read on.
What are the Types of Suspense?
Suspense can arise in different ways within a story. The most successful stories will usually contain multiple types of suspense.
Short Term Suspense
This is the type of suspense created by a tension-filled scene. There will be a high-stakes dramatic question, which is answered within the same scene or the next few chapters.
This type of suspense is most commonly created by the obstacles and conflicts preventing a character from achieving their goal.
Short term suspense can also be created by a character’s inner conflict surrounding their methods of achieving their goal.
You’ll want your story to be filled with this type of suspense, regardless of its genre.
If tension is lacking in your scene, consider the stakes and conflict existing for your point-of-view character, and then further develop these story elements.
Long Term Narrative Suspense
Narrative suspense usually arises from the overall story goal of your protagonist, the ongoing obstacles or conflict which prevent them achieving it (often in the form of an antagonist), and the high stakes should they fail.
You won’t be able to create narrative suspense unless your reader cares about both your protagonist and their story goal.
Having a strong story goal with high stakes will help make the reader care about your protagonist. You’ll also want readers to relate to, sympathise with, admire, and/or enjoy putting themselves in the mind-set of your protagonist.
Having a strong voice can also really help your reader bond with your protagonist.
Narrative suspense is important for all genres, and absolutely critical if you’re writing a thriller, mystery or horror story.
Mysterious Suspense
Mysterious suspense is found within any story which leaves a key question or plot reveal to the end of the narrative. The classic example is a whodunit murder mystery, but you can find narrative suspense in any genre of fiction.
For example, In Kazuo Ishiguro’s literary dystopian story Never Let Me Go, the author makes us question what’s happening in his fictional world as the narrator refers to ‘carers’ and ‘donors’, but it’s only as the story develops that we slowly start to learn the full implications of these terms.
Horrific Suspense
Horrific suspense is the slowly built-up, spine-chilling suspense which arises when a reader knows something awful is about to happen to a character who may or may not understand the danger they’re in. The awful thing we fear doesn’t actually have to happen; the reader just needs to feel sure there’s a strong chance that it might.
Whilst this is most usually found within the horror genre, you can also find examples within other literary areas. In Anthony Doerr’s literary historical novel All the Light We Cannot See, there’s an excellent example of horrific suspense as we see our blind protagonist Marie-Laure hide away in her attic while a Nazi officer searches her house for a gemstone.
I wouldn’t recommend using this type of suspense in a sweet romantic comedy, however!
Romantic Suspense
Romantic suspense, most generally the ‘will-they-won’t-they end up together?’ storyline, is of course the most common type of suspense found within the Romance genre. It’s also a popular suspenseful subplot within other genres.
For example, in Lindsey Davies’s The Silver Pigs, a historical crime novel set in the Ancient Roman Empire, secondary suspense builds up as we question whether our private informer Falco will be able to form a relationship with his aristocratic love, Helena.
Comedic Suspense
In comedic suspense, the reader usually possesses insight the character lacks, which enables the reader to see the humour in the situation. This is the premise of dramatic irony.
Genre plays an important role in dictating whether a reader will find something funny.
For example, in the first of the Bridgerton novels, The Duke and I by Julia Quinn, scenes take place with relatively high stakes which are nevertheless fun and amusing for the reader – because they know that in this genre, a happy ending is guaranteed for the protagonists. This allows Quinn to write high-stakes scenes in a light-hearted and ironic tone, as she encourages us to enjoy scenes which aren’t at all amusing to the characters involved.
Likewise, in Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella, we laugh at the trouble our spendthrift protagonist Becky gets herself into – but only because we know it will all be alright in the end.
Suspense Elements Explained
The following elements can be used when writing all the types of suspense listed above.
Foreshadowing
This is when you hint at danger, obstacles or conflict to come.
When writing narrative suspense, you might hint at the story’s climactic conflict in an early chapter. When writing short term suspense, you might hint early on in the scene at what’s to happen at the chapter’s end.
By foreshadowing future conflict, you allow the reader to enjoy your slow build-up of suspense, as they prepare to watch the promised excitement unfold.
Flashbacks
Interspersing flashback scenes with present-day action is an immersive way to slowly reveal answers to long term narrative suspense questions raised about the past.
This technique is particularly useful for writing mysterious suspense, when a writer begins their story in medias res.
Flashback scenes show past-tense action play out as though in real time.
When interspersing flashbacks with present-time action it’s important to either use different tenses when writing, so the reader doesn’t get confused between past and present, or to use dual timelines, always clearly identifying which timeline you’re writing in at each moment.
Cliffhangers
Cliffhangers are a classic narrative device to keep the reader turning the page (or, in the case of television series, watching the next episode.)
A cliffhanger consists of ending a scene or chapter at a moment of high danger for a character, where the reader has no idea how the character can get themselves safely out of their situation.
A cliffhanger is a form of exit hook.
Exit hooks constitute any ending of a scene or chapter which encourages the reader to turn the page. An exit hook could also, for example, be a simple question the reader asks about a character’s motivation or desire.
A cliffhanger is the most high-suspense version of an exit hook.
Cliffhangers are powerful narrative devices, but can become tired and unconvincing if they’re the sole form of exit hook you employ in your story – unless, of course, you’re an absolute master at writing them. For an example of brilliant cliffhangers, check out any book by Gillian Flynn.
Pacing
Pacing refers to the speed at which a writer develops their narrative.
The greater your control over your story’s pacing, the greater control you’ll have over the story’s suspense.
You may choose to drag suspense out, slowly building up to an inevitable climax with languorous sentences, or you might choose to speed up pacing, using short, sharp sentences to keep the action brisk.
Which type of pacing to use for each situation is an individual artistic decision, but mastering this skill will greatly improve your craft.
Whichever sentence-type you choose to employ, the key to strong pacing is to ensure neither you nor your point-of-view character loses sight of their scene or story goal. Once your character forgets about their goal, overall story pacing will sag, and it’s difficult to create effective suspense once this has happened.
Dramatic Irony and Point of View
Dramatic irony is built when the reader has access to information a character (usually the point-of-view character within the scene) lacks.
The classic example would be a character sitting quietly at home, enjoying a relaxing activity, whilst unbeknownst to them (but not to the reader), an attacker creeps up to their front door with a key to their house.
To create dramatic irony, you’ll need a strong handle on how you write point-of-view.
You’ll need to plan how to give your reader access to the most appropriate point-of-view for each scene to create maximum suspense. This can work, for example, through showing different chapters through different point-of-views, or though using an omniscient narrative or multiple point-of-view narrative.
In many cases of suspense created through dramatic irony, the reader will be aware of obstacles to the point-of-view character’s scene goal long before the character themselves becomes aware of these problems.
Suspense Examples
The best way to learn how to write suspense well is to study books by masters of the craft.
Short Term Suspense:
Examples of gripping novels with excellent short term suspense include:
- Hunted by Abir Mukherejee: A political thriller about terrorist attacks, which keeps the plot twists coming, chapter after chapter.
- Skandar and The Unicorn Thief by A F Steadman. A young adult novel featuring a school where children learn to be become magical unicorn riders, with strong chapter exit hooks and excellent turning points within the plot.
Narrative Suspense:
For examples of major plot twists and compelling narratives questions, check out:
- Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn: If you don’t already know this plot twist, I won’t spoil it for you. Flynn never lets the reader relax; it’s a book you can’t put down.
- The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins: Another gripping thriller in which the central narrative ‘whodunnit’ question keeps the reader guessing at answers throughout the story.
Mysterious Suspense:
- Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie. A classic which needs no introduction.
- Blood and Sugar by Laura Shepherd-Robinson. A strong historical crime novel with mysterious suspension mastered.
Horrific Suspense:
- Misery by Stephen King. The agonising way in which King draws out the kidnapped protagonist’s fear provides a perfect example of horrific suspense.
- The Killing Floor by Lee Child. The explicit violence within this thriller means the reader is always on the edge of their seat about what actions the villains might take next.
Romantic Suspense:
- Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. In one of the most popular romances ever written, Austen keeps us desperate to see Darcy and Elizabeth find their way to each other.
Comedic Suspense:
- Twelfth Night by William Shakespeare. Pitch-perfect dramatic irony in this cross-dressing comedy, as the audience, knowing everyone’s true identities and gender, possess information the characters don’t. We know it will probably all resolve happily in the end, but how?
Tips for Writing Suspense
- Remember the power of setting for creating suspense. The way in which you describe the setting can clue the reader into upcoming tension. If done well, you can make the hairs raise on the back of their arms just by setting the scene.
- Be careful as to how you use hints in mysterious suspense. A balanced combination of correct leads and red herrings should make it extremely difficult, but not impossible, for your reader to guess the correct answer.
- Make your readers care about a character before putting that character in jeopardy, and the suspense will be strengthened.
- When using dramatic irony, writing strong subtext will help boost suspense. If the reader understands the character’s words on a different level to which the character intended them, humour and suspense will both increase.
Conclusion
Whatever your genre, mastering suspense will increase both pacing and reader engagement with your story.
Suspense writing isn’t an area you can afford to forget about, so think carefully about the correct stakes, conflict, hooks, goals, emotions and settings for your story and you’ll be well on the way to writing a book readers can’t put down!